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Become a Junior Ranger! Find an online schedule of interpretive programs, including special junior ranger programs, on our calendar, in the NPS app, or in the Yosemite Guide newspaper. If you are looking to learn more about Yosemite from home, there are links and activities included below. 
Become a Junior Ranger!You can become a Yosemite Junior Ranger by taking a self-guided handbook with you as you travel around the park and complete the activities that are the best fit for you. The Yosemite Junior Ranger handbook is available for free at visitor centers. When you are done, share your booklet with a park ranger at any Yosemite visitor center during operating hours to receive your badge. If you're unable to get to a visitor center, you can download the Junior Ranger book [5 MB PDF]. (These are not available by mail.) Adapted Activities Companion GuideAll children can become Yosemite Junior Rangers with a little help! In this free, 14-page companion to the new Junior Ranger Handbook [1.5 MB PDF], junior ranger activities have been adapted for children with diverse communication, learning, motor and/or sensory needs, who have difficulty using speech or writing implements. 
Become a Yosemite Virtual Junior Ranger from Home!We are offering a virtual junior ranger program that you can do at home! Learn about some of the cultural and natural wonders of Yosemite (and your own home area) and share your art and thoughts with us. How do you earn your virtual junior ranger badge?Download the junior ranger activity worksheets.
After completing your junior ranger activities, email photos/scans to yose_information@nps.gov. Make sure to include your full name and address in order to receive the badge. If you don't have access to email, you may send finished work to: ATTN: PIO If you don't have access to a printer, fill out the activity sheets on the computer (English) [619 kb PDF] (Spanish) [641 kb PDF] and email them to us. Make sure to include photos of the drawing activities in your email to us! We have a very limited number of virtual junior ranger badges to mail out and they will take 6-8 weeks to arrive in your mailbox. We are unable to mail these outside the United States. Feel free to color your own while you wait! Additional Links and Activities
Draw with a Park Ranger: Black BearDo you love bears? Do you love to doodle? Follow along step-by-step as we draw this adorable Yosemite black bear! Bonus points if you color your drawing or add scenery. Black bears fascinate wildlife enthusiasts due to their unique biology and behaviors. Did you know that most of Yosemite's black bears, despite their name, are not black, but are brown in color.
Draw with a Park Ranger: California Red-Legged FrogThe California red-legged frog was absent from Yosemite for over half a century, until it was reintroduced to Yosemite in 2017. This awesome amphibian makes its home in streams and wetlands, now including areas of Yosemite Valley. Follow along step-by-step to create a frog of your own!
Draw with a Park Ranger: PikaThe American pika looks like a little hamster, but it's actually a relative of the rabbit. These critters live at the highest elevations in Yosemite, where they work hard all summer to gather, dry, and store grass and flowers for the winter. Follow along step-by-step to draw your own pika!
Draw with a Park Ranger: Spotted OwlThe California spotted owl is one of three subspecies of spotted owl (and the only variety that lives here in Yosemite.) These special owls prefer to live in mature, old-growth forests, and their presence might serve as an indicator of a healthy forest ecosystem. Spotted owls hunt at night, gliding silently through the trees in search of small prey like rodents or bats. Once you've drawn your spotted owl, learn more about these special birds and the challenges they face here in the park from our friends at Yosemite Conservancy.
Draw with a Park Ranger: Steller's JayThese raucous rockstars can be found just about anywhere in Yosemite, and with their cool hairdo, bright blue outfit, and loud, scratchy calls, they're hard to miss! Though they're far from rare, these little corvids (highly intelligent relatives of the blue jay, raven, and magpie) are pretty cool! Follow along step-by-step as we draw a Steller's jay!
Draw with a Park Ranger: Yellow-Bellied MarmotThe yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris), a member of the squirrel family, sometimes eats food with their hands! These animals like to eat seeds, berries, grasses, insects, and occasionally bird eggs. They are typically 20-28 inch long, groundhog-like creatures, that are found only at high elevations in the park and are adapted to the colder temperatures with their thick reddish-brown fur and yellow belly. During most of the winter these large rodents are sleeping—they can hibernate up to eight months of the year! Emerging around May, they are social creatures that live in colonies of 10-20 individuals. You may hear them give a shrill whistle, or a “scream” in the colonies to warn others of predators, such as coyotes and golden eagles.
Draw Yourself as a Park RangerKids and kids-at-heart, have you ever wanted to be a park ranger? Here's your chance to wear the hat! What kind of ranger would you be? Just a few of the jobs rangers might do include: giving interpretive programs, welcoming visitors at the park entrance, patrolling the wilderness, conducting scientific research, working as first responders (law enforcement, firefighters, EMTs, search and rescue), cleaning or repairing roads and buildings, or working online as web rangers. Download and print our activity image, or draw your own!
Black Bear and Half Dome Coloring PageSit back, relax, and enjoy spending some time coloring one of Yosemite's black bears as it stands in Yosemite with iconic Half Dome in the background.
Red-Winged Blackbird and Yosemite Falls Coloring PageSit back, relax, and enjoy spending some time coloring one of Yosemite's birds as it sits in a meadow with iconic Yosemite Falls in the background.
Additional Coloring PagesThese detailed coloring pages also share interesting information about protecting wildlife in the park. Fun for kids (and adults!) to enjoy some relaxing time coloring and learning.
Animal Mask Activity: Set 1Which Yosemite animal would you be? Download this set of animal masks to print, color, and cut out. Attach a little string, ribbon, or a popsicle stick, and they're ready to wear! This set includes: a black bear, badger, bobcat, deer, fox, pika, and raccoon.
Animal Mask Activity: Set 2Which Yosemite animal would you be? Download this set of animal masks to print, color, and cut out. Attach a little string, ribbon, or a popsicle stick, and they're ready to wear! This set includes: an owl, butterfly, peregrine falcon, frog, weasel, and woodpecker.
Junior Ranger History in YosemiteJunior Ranger history reaches back to the Yosemite Junior Nature School, organized in June 1930 and lasting until 1954. Imagine being an eager young naturalist sent off to the park for a week's summer session. Read a 1937 Yosemite Nature Notes article about the historic school and a 1960 Yosemite Nature Notes article that shares the program's success and structural evolution in 1955. Could you pass the Junior Ranger 1933 test? Warning: it's tough! 
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Last updated: November 18, 2024